E*TRADE Advances Marketing Campaign with Blitz of Super Bowl Ads
http://nt.excite.com/news/pr/990129/ca-etrade-marketing
PALO ALTO, Calif. /PRNewswire/ As part of a national marketing campaign aimed at reinforcing E*TRADE as the number one place to invest online, E*TRADE® Group Inc. (NASDAQ:EGRP) will air six :30 commercials during FOX’s pre-game Super Bowl coverage on Sunday. Each of the new ads reinforces E*TRADE’s message of self-empowerment by using humor to contrast E*TRADE against traditional brokerages.
“As individuals make the move to online investing, we want them to be familiar with the benefits of becoming an E*TRADE customer,” said Jerry Gramaglia, senior vice president of marketing for E*TRADE. “Millions of viewers nationwide watch t.v. on Super Bowl Sunday both for the game and the ads. Because of its high profile, advertisers use Super Bowl Sunday to communicate major brand messages. As such, it is the ideal venue for E*TRADE to communicate its leadership in the online investing industry.”
The E*TRADE ads to be featured on Super Bowl Sunday are the latest in a series of spots developed as part of E*TRADE’s integrated campaign – one of the largest marketing initiatives in the history of online financial services. Each of the spots follows the E*TRADE tradition of using humor matched with a bold, realistic look at everyday events to illustrate an important point. E*TRADE, like many major advertisers, will build anticipation for its new spots by keeping them under wraps until the hours leading up to kick-off.
E*TRADE’s Super Bowl sponsorship comes on the heels of their successful sponsorship of 1998 World Series. The overwhelming customer response to the World Series spots contributed to E*TRADE being recognized as the most visited online financial services Web site by Media Metrics.
Along with airing the spots during FOX’s Super Bowl pre-game coverage, E*TRADE also is sponsoring the “Return Of The Year” – a look back at some of the best individual performances from the past football season.”We’re proud to sponsor the ‘Return Of The Year’ because it conveys themessage that E*TRADE is a top performer within its industry, and that knowledgeable, self-directed investors looking for great returns should be looking to E*TRADE,” added Gramaglia.
“To advertisers, the importance of the Super Bowl cannot be understated. Super Bowl Sunday has become the most important day for football and advertising,” said Jon Nesvig, president of sales for Fox Broadcasting Company. “E*TRADE is taking full advantage of this opportunity by using FOX’s Super Bowl coverage to make a memorable impression of the E*TRADE brand to millions of potential customers.”
Since being launched in September 1998 with a second phase beginning in December 1998, E*TRADE’s aggressive marketing campaign already has been a success for the company. In the most recent earnings report and subsequent news releases issued earlier thismonth, E*TRADE reported record levels in new customer accounts, totalcustomer accounts, average transactions per day, total single day transactions, average daily deposits to customer accounts, total single day deposits to customer accounts and customer assets under management.
“E*TRADE is at the forefront of the burgeoning online financial services industry, and we’re committed to staying there,” said Gramaglia. “As an innovative leader, we strive to enhance the products and services offeredon the Destination E*TRADE Web site through a number of strategic alliances designed to make our site the premier, one-stop online resource for a variety of financial needs.”
About E*TRADE
A leading branded provider of online investing services, E*TRADE has established a popular destination Web site for self-directed investors. The Company offers independent investors the convenience and control of automated stock, options and mutual funds order placement at low commission rates.
In addition, E*TRADE has a suite of value-added products and services that can be personalized, including portfolio tracking, real-time stockquotes, Smart Alerts, market commentary and analysis, news, investor community areas and other information services. E*TRADE was ranked the number one overall online brokerage service in two consecutive quarterly reviews conducted by Gomez Advisors, a leading independent authority devoted to online financial services (Q3/Q4 1998).
In October 1998, the E*TRADE Web site also was named the number one online investing site in an international survey of the industry’s top 20 Internet brokerage firms by Lafferty Information and Research Group, aglobal provider of high-value and business information research. Investors can access E*TRADE at www.etrade.com on the Internet and through many other electronic channels and online services, including AOL (Keyword: E*TRADE). E*TRADE Securities Inc. (MemberNASD/SIPC), and its parent company, E*TRADE Group Inc., are headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.
Important Notice
E*TRADE is a registered trademark of the Company. All other Trademarks are properties of their respective owners. The statements contained in this news release that are forward-looking are based oncurrent expectations that are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially. The uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, changes in market activity, marketacceptance of the new E*TRADE destination web site, anticipated increases in the rate of new customer acquisition, the conversion of new visitors to the site to customers, seasonality, the development of newproducts and services, the enhancement of existing products and services, competitive pressures (including price competition), system failures, economic and political conditions, changes in consumer behavior and the introduction of competing products having technological and /or other advantages. Further information about these risks and uncertainties can be found in the information included in the annualreport filed by the Company with the SEC on Form 10-K (includinginformation under the caption “Risk Factors”) and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.